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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for transformative findings that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their research identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue immune cells capable of attacking the body.

The discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a prize fund valued at 11 million SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of disease, even pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These cells utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers earlier understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to neutralize any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "These discoveries have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar method could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for the way T-regs function.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," said a leading physiology expert.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for public health."